


Happy Endings

by Umbella



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Destiny Trio, Sorikai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 12:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18691321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbella/pseuds/Umbella
Summary: Everyone got their happy endings, except for Riku. But of course it’s this way.





	Happy Endings

**Author's Note:**

> the ending of KH3 isn’t clear so this is in a canon where Sora and Kairi never actually came back at all and Riku is left without them 
> 
> vague feelings writing i did when i was feeling things, might be a little confusing, i didn’t edit this much

In the end, it was everyone else who got their happy endings, except for Riku. He looked on at all of these people, these friends, reunited, smiling faces, and thought to himself: Of course it’s this way. No matter how far he’s come, his past sins made him deserving of this loneliness. He wondered: Had he, in some way, also doomed his friends to this fate? Was destiny so cruel as to punish them, just to punish him? 

Naminé stood beside him. She held his hand, and he could feel the light in her, and it only served to remind him of Kairi. He exchanged apologies with Roxas, the past forgiven, the slate clean. Roxas had his friends back, and his carefree smile only served to remind him of Sora. 

Xion thanked him, and he apologized to her, and they both laughed. Xion, in everything she represented, was the hardest to cope with. He looked her in the eyes once, and everything came back; the good and the bad. She was made of memories, made of Sora and Kairi, and it made him think of what the future could have been if they were both still here. He imagined Kairi cradling a small life in her arms, and Xion quipping about how, technically, she was this baby’s big sister. He imagined laughter and joy and the many years filled with light and filled with Sora and Kairi standing beside him. Hand in hand, all of them, together. 

But he sat on the Paopu tree alone during the sunsets. He smoothed his hand over the weathered tree beside him, knowing of every moment shared together on this surface with his friends. Sharp regret pierced his heart, remembering what he did to them. His eyes burned with tears and his jaw clenched. Maybe, if he had just acted like he had a brain, nothing would be the way it is now. Maybe if he hadn’t been such an arrogant, cowardly fool of a child, they would still be here. Maybe he and Sora would have traversed the worlds together, and saved Kairi and gone home with her and sat on this very tree, telling her of their grand adventures. And they would be safe.

Why did it have to be Sora, responsible for the protection of light? Being a guardian is a burden he didn’t ask for. Why did it have to be Kairi, a princess, an asset for those who would use her for her light? None of them asked for this. They were just kids. They were  _still_  kids. He wanted more than anything to grow up with them, the way it just must have been intended.

 _ It’s not your fault _ , Naminé told him when he confided in her.  _ They would be so sad to know you blamed yourself _ , she’d say. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that seeing her face and hearing her voice and being next to her made him miss Kairi even more, but she knew. He could tell. Just another thing to feel guilty for. Who was he, to strip Naminé of her individuality with his grief? All she ever wanted was to be special to him, and to Sora. She didn’t deserve to feel like a shadow.

Of course it’s this way. 

All Riku has ever done is hurt people. And now, even with people who still care surrounding him, trying to help him, he still hurts people. He dares to feel alone without Sora and Kairi, the people he hurt the most. The people he loves most.

His selfish fantasies bring him comfort, and one day, they do more than that. Just like this, he closes his eyes and imagines again. Standing on the shore of their play island. They run to him, and he wraps them both in his arms. He holds them tight and he laughs and cries and thanks them for returning to him, for forgiving him despite not deserving it.

Roxas, Axel, Xion.

Terra, Aqua, Ven. 

Sora, Kairi... and Riku.

Everyone together. Everyone gets their happy ending. Even Riku, the villain of his own story, deserves to feel this light. 

He opens his eyes. He is the land, watching the sky and the sea. Stuck on the shore, while they are infinite, out of reach. But he still reaches for them—his keyblade appears in his hand. It flashes into existence, reminding him that  _he_  is light.  Braveheart. He’s made his way to dawn, and it’s time to let himself be brave. The guilt, the shame, the heavy chains that shackle his heart—they’re not made of darkness, they’re just feelings, and they can’t hold him like the dark once did.

He makes a decision one day. He faces away from the world he knows and steps forward into the unknown and he decides he will, no matter what, bring his friends home. They’re out there. He can feel them by the glowing threads that tie their hearts together. He knows he’ll never be complete without them, and there’s more to seek in this life, for all of them. The time for sinking himself in regret is over. The journey is long overdue. Nobody, nothing, not a word of reason will stop him from rescuing Sora and Kairi the way they rescued him.

It’s time for destiny to give this trio their happy ending. 


End file.
